SEP 2 -- (EAST ST. LOUIS, IL) - A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced that on August 28, 2008, JOHN RAMOS, age 37, of El Paso, Texas, pled guilty in the United States District Court in East St. Louis, Illinois, to possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

At RAMOS’ plea hearing, he admitted that on August 30, 2007 he engaged in the transportation of cocaine from El Paso, Texas to Chicago, Illinois. RAMOS was stopped for a traffic violation in Granite City, Illinois where 112 kilograms of cocaine were discovered in his vehicle during a consented search. Sentencing is set for December 5, 2008. RAMOS faces penalties of 10 years to life in prison, followed by a term of supervised release of at least 5 years, and a fine of not more than $4 million.

Investigation in support of the prosecution was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Granite City Police. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel T. Kapsak.